In Ray’s Own Words
One of my favorite things to do is to take a cherished piece of jewelry and to remake it into something new for a client. This emerald ring was a labor of love between myself, the client and Naifeh Fine Jewelry.
I met the gorgeous owner Joan at at a trunk show at Naifeh Fine Jewelry in Oklahoma. The original ring was very special to her as she had seen it in an antique jewelry store and fallen in love with the emerald in the ring. Her late husband went back and bought the ring for her so it holds great emotional value. She loved the deep native cut of the emerald but felt that the setting didn’t show off the beauty of the stone. She loves my crownwork so I set about designing a ring to show off the emerald in all its glory.
I took the emerald and all the diamonds out, I measured everything up and then sketched out the plan for the ring. After talking to Joan about what she wanted I knew that setting the inner row of diamonds in oxidized silver would give the ring the look of antiquity she loves and make the emerald pop even more. My favorite way to work is the way I was taught by master jewelers, with handmade wax models.
The end result is a gorgeous ring using all the client’s original stones reset and reimagined into a ring that Joan loves, when she wears this beauty she will think of the beautiful and thoughtful gift from her late husband. Bringing new life to such a gorgeous emerald was a delight and an honor.
